NCsoft's superhero simulation City of Heroes celebrates its five-year anniversary next week, with contests and events planned to keep the game's super-powered denizens partying Paragon City into the ground.

The festivities start on Wednesday, April 28th, continuing through to Sunday, May 3rd. Kicking things off will be an in-game event running from 11am Eastern to midnight on Wednesday. The devs are being quiet about what is actually going to happen, promising only that "all CHAOS is going to break loose". Also on Wednesday, players are urged to being in game around 8pm Eastern for the global anniversary address from the game's lead designer, Matt "Postiron" Miller.

Other special occurrences celebrating five years include special secret guest appearances on the game's test server, and a Fifth Anniversary Badge available to all players who log in between April 28th and May 31st, though only one will be available per character.

There will also be two contests running during the celebration; one for a logo t-shirt design and one for a City of Heroes video tribute. Details on both contests will be released on anniversary day.

During the entire celebration, old players are welcomed to return to the game for free in order to give their old characters a workout and perhaps consider freeing up some of the more impressive names they've been holding in limbo for several years. Not me, however. Sorry folks, but I'm holding on to Stonemason, Hightower, and Miss Stake as long as humanly possible.